Of Pumpkin Patches and Costume Mishaps
by LileyKigoSpashleyRizzslesLover
Summary: Maura wants Jane to teach her Halloween but some confusing feelings surface that threaten to ruin their good time - or will it just make it better? Jane/Maura. Threeshot.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I do not own R&I. I was planning on posting this on Friday but I figured that it _is_ Friday in most of the world so I might as well post it now. Check for updates tomorrow and Sunday as this will be a three-shot Halloween special!

XXXXX

Jane walked into Maura's lab, not even flinching when she saw that the M.E. was elbow deep in a corpse. "Hey, Maura."

Maura didn't look up, her concentration placed solely on the body before her. She could have sworn she saw a ghost of a smile appear on her face though.

Jane just nodded, knowing that when she gets like this that it's best to wait it out. And wait it out she did. It didn't take too long, however, for Maura to pull her hands out and make her way to the sink.

"Hello, Jane." She said, finally acknowledging the other girl's presence. "The autopsy report's not ready yet."

"I know." She said with a "duh" indicated in her tone, since the body was still being worked on.

"Then why are you here?" Maura asked.

"Can't I just want to watch you cut open a dead body?"

Maura gave her an incredulous look.

"Okay, fine!" Jane gave up lying. "My parents want you to come over on Sunday."

"For family dinner? Will there be Gnocchi?" Maura had been invited to the Rizzoli's once before and found it to be quite a pleasant evening, surprisingly.

"Seriously, Maura?" Jane gave her a dumbfounded look.

"What?"

"Halloween? You know, candy and costumes? Didn't you celebrate it when you were a kid?"

Maura shook her head. "My parents thought it was a 'foolish holiday that was only celebrated by the weak minded'."

"Thanks." Jane said, sarcastically. "You coming or what?"

"… Will I have to be in costume?" Maura asked hesitantly.

"Of course!" Jane crossed the room to stand closer to the doctor. When she saw the look on Maura's face she thought again. "Only if you want." She spoke softly, understanding that Maura was somewhat sensitive about things like this, not having a real childhood and all.

"Maybe…" Maura said.

Jane could see the wheels in her head turning as she thought, and was pretty sure she was starting to come up with costume ideas. She was kind of afraid to think of what "Dr. Death" might come up with. "Yeah, well, Frankie's gonna be there so don't do anything too scary."

Maura looked up at Jane and smiled. "I won't."

"Alright then! Ma wants us to show up at eight." Jane said and then started towards the door.

"Jane." Maura spoke, stopping the detective in her tracks.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing later?"

"It's Friday… I figured we were heading to the bar. Why? What's up?"

"Um… well…" Maura looked down at the floor then shook her head. "Never mind, it's stupid."

Jane's eyebrow quirked up. She walked over to Maura. Standing in front of her, she put one hand on the M.E.'s shoulder. "Nothing that crosses _this_ mind," she tapped on Maura's forehead, "could ever be stupid."

Maura visibly melted. "Oh, Jane. That's so nice!" Her grin faded away when she saw the expectant look on the other girl's face, telling her that she was waiting for an answer. "Well… I was kind of hoping that you could… teach me?"

Jane's brows furrowed and she reeled back slightly in shock. "Teach you? What?" What could Maura possibly need to be taught?

"How to do Halloween." Maura was unsure of herself, which was rare.

"Do Halloween? Maura, you don't _do_ Halloween, you celebrate it." Jane was amused at the hopeless naiveté that was Maura.

"Okay… how?"

"I don't know… eat candy? Wear costumes… hang decorations… carve a pumpkin..." she listed off and then stopped. "Wait… how do you not know any of this? I understand that your parents were… well… _your_ parents but… you don't know anything?"

"Well, I know that its origins date back to a Celtic festival called 'Samhain' because the Celts celebrated New Years on November first and, on the last day of the year – October Thirty-First – was when they believed ghosts of the dead returned to earth so they dressed up in attempt to scare those spirits away… but I'm unsure as to your traditions and I would like to learn them."

Jane stared blankly at Maura. "Right… well, actually that just about sums it up!"

Maura perked up, her face brightening. "Really?"

Jane winced internally. Great, now she regretted teasing her. She didn't want to let her down but… she knows how much Maura hates being lied to. "No." She said bluntly.

"Oh." Maura deflated.

"Okay, you know what?" Jane placed her other hand on the other shoulder of the doctor. "You're leaving with me today… I need to take you somewhere."

Maura tilted her head, much like a dog does when it hears an unfamiliar sound. "Where?"

Jane leaned in, her mouth inches from Maura's ear. "It's a surprise." She whispered. When she pulled back she was met with a skeptical look. "What? Don't you trust me?"

Maura's look changed to something that Jane couldn't pinpoint. "With my life."

Maura's tone was serious. And oddly passionate. Jane wasn't sure what to make of it so she just nodded slowly before stepping back. "Right… well I'll let you get back to _him_," She pointed at the cadaver. "I'll be at my desk 'till you're ready to leave." She left the room.

Maura watched the fleeting figure of her best friend before she headed back to the table. She was distracted, as her mind was trying to think of the possible "surprises" Jane had in store for her tonight but, as always, she didn't let it affect the quality of her work.

XXXXX

"Ready?"

Jane looked up from her paperwork to a beaming Maura Isles. She took on an amused look. "Excited?"

"Yes." You could tell that she was trying not to bounce up and down.

Jane just laughed. "Okay. Just let me finish this report."

Maura frowned at this. She didn't want to wait much longer for the "surprise".

A few minutes ticked by and Maura found herself tapping her foot in impatience. She looked around for something to pass the time and almost resorted to reading the book of rules and regulations of Boston when Jane put her pen down just in time.

"Alright, let's go!"

XXXXX

"_This_ is your big surprise?" Maura asked reluctantly as she looked out of her window and saw families walking through a field of green with scattered dots of orange.

"What?" Jane looked over at Maura after she parked. "You said you wanted the full experience. This is step one." She got out of the car and headed over to a table near the front of the patch.

Maura sat there for a few moments before sighing and following her best friend.

"Jane! It's so nice to see you! I thought you said you couldn't make it this year." The woman behind the table stood up and met the detective on the other side, wrapping her in a hug.

Jane returned the hug. They pulled away. "Yeah, well…"

Maura showed up, practically gluing herself to Jane's side.

"Who's this?"

"The reason I'm here."

The woman face took on a look of unabashed glee. "Jane, that's so adorable! I'm happy for you." She looked over at Maura. "You're a real lucky lady."

"What?" Jane and Maura said at the same time.

"She… I…" Jane tried to find words but couldn't. She didn't really know what was going on.

"Jane is trying to show me Halloween." Maura said while Jane was still struggling with her words. "I didn't have much of a childhood growing up."

"Oh." The woman seemed confused. "Okay…" she said slowly. "So you two aren't…?" She pointed back and forth between them, trying to indicate her meaning with actions instead of words.

Neither of them understood.

The woman decided to forget about that and try again. "Hi! I'm Chelsea!" She thrust her hand forward, causing Maura to jump back at the sudden movement.

"Dr. Maura Isles." She shook the offered hand.

Chelsea was a little taken aback by the formality of the introduction but shrugged it off. "Anyway… I take it this is your first time at a pumpkin patch?"

"It is."

"We're happy to have you here." She turned to Jane. "Do you want to do the whole 'newbie tour' thing for her or…?"

Jane waved her off. "Nah, I think I can handle it. Besides, we can't spend too much time here if we want to finish the carvings tonight."

"Right, well," she returned to her seat behind the table, "have fun, girls!"

When they got a few feet into the field Maura asked: "How do you know her?"

"Rizzoli family tradition. I can't remember a year me, Frankie 'n Tommy weren't dragged down here." She had a wistful smile on her face as some fond memories entered her mind. She wished Tommy never started acting up. She really missed those times.

Maura glanced over at Jane, who looked like she was in another world. She found herself admiring the other girl. The way her ebony locks cascaded down, reaching the middle of her back. The way her skin looked so perfect in the fading sunlight. The way her lips were so… inviting.

Maura stopped walking.

A few steps later, Jane did too. She looked back, giving Maura a questioning look.

"Um…." Maura didn't know what to say.

A light bulb went off in the detective's head. "Oh, that's right. You don't know what we're lookin' for, do you?"

"I'm assuming a pumpkin."

"Not just any pumpkin. The perfect one. Or maybe two." Jane looked at all the oddly shaped orange spheres around them.

Maura joined her in the search. "How about this one?" She pointed to one that was slightly larger than the ones around it.

"No. It won't stand up right. You have to find one with a flat enough base so it will stay stable."

Maura tucked that piece of information away in her head and continued her search. "Is this one good?" She said a few minutes later.

Jane leaned down for closer inspection. Maura silently chastised herself when she realized she was admiring the woman beside her instead of the pumpkin. She turned around, trying to ignore the not wholly unwelcome feelings bubbling up inside her.

"Good!" Jane said. She smiled up at the M.E. but it turned to a frown when she was met with Maura's back. "Maura!" She barked the name when she didn't turn around the first time.

Said girl jumped and turned around. "Yeah?"

"I said it's good." She stood up, pumpkin in hand. "You okay?" Her concerned eyes searched the face in front of her for any signs.

"Um…. so…. are we good to go?"

Jane wanted to push it but she didn't want to carry a pumpkin and a passed out Maura if she attempted to lie her way out of this. "Just the one?" She held up the spherical squash to indicate what she was talking about.

"Do we need another?"

Jane considered it for a moment. "Nah, we can carve this one together." She headed back to the entrance. She stopped after a few feet when she didn't' feel the familiar presence beside her. "You coming?" She didn't even bother stopping because she immediately heard the sound of leaves crunching behind her, beneath designer boots.

"We'll take this one." The table shook a little as the round object was placed on the scale.

"Good choice!" Chelsea admired. "You've always had the best eye for these things, Jane."

Jane just smiled at the older woman.

"Are you two staying for the hay ride?" Chelsea asked as she took the money from the Rizzoli.

"No." Jane shook her head.

"A hay ride? That sounds like fun." Maura said, perkily.

"No, Maura!" She shot back forcefully.

"Please, Jane!"

Her resolve weakened when she felt Maura's hand on her shoulder and saw the pleading hazel orbits in front of her. She sighed. "Oh all right."

"We're gonna start loading up in a few minutes out back." Chelsea informed them.

After the two went to Jane's car to put their pumpkin in the backseat they made their way to the wagon on the other side of the only building in sight.

"You know, I don't know why, but I wasn't expecting there to actually be hay involved in a hay ride." Maura said as they got a closer look.

"Changing your mind?" Jane asked, hopeful.

"No." Maura smiled.

"Fine." Jane conceded. Since they were the first ones there they got first pick to the seats. Maura sat in the back right corner, so she had her back against the back and could still look over the side. Jane sat down next to her.

As more people showed up, the wagon got increasingly crowded, causing Jane and Maura to sit _very _closely. Their sides were pressed together and Maura found herself to be uncomfortable in two different ways. On her left side she was pressed up against rough, splintery wood. Her right side, however, was on fire. Every inch of that side was in contact with the other girl. Jane's left foot was crossed under her right and every time the wagon jostled, which was frequently, the detective's foot lightly brushed against her calf, sending shivers up her spine.

As things got bumpier, Jane instinctively wrapped an arm around Maura's waist protectively, pulling her in closer. Maura inhaled sharply as Jane's hand touched her cloth covered stomach. She had to fight to stay in control as the ride went on, since Jane's fingers unconsciously drew patterns in the silky fabric of her blouse.

Minutes passed and Maura tried to will the horse to stop. She found herself having to close her eyes frequently, to try and shut away the urges upwelling often unexpectedly, most of them involving pressing her lips to the one's not too far away.

Her prayers were answered when, not two seconds later, the wagon came to a stop. As they were in the back, they were one of the last to get off. When it was their turn, Jane leaped off before offering her hand to the M.E., who took it and carefully stepped down.

"So? What'd you think?" Jane asked, bumping her shoulder into Maura's.

"It was… an experience." Maura answered nervously. She stepped a bit to the side as they were walking to try and distance herself from the detective.

Jane just glanced at her curiously. She closed the gap that developed between them but Maura widened it again. Jane frowned, and then made her way to the driver's side of the car. The ride back was in silence.

XXXXX

The door to Jane's apartment opened. Joe Friday barked in greeting before jumping down from the couch and making her way towards the two. She jumped up at Jane first but soon realized her owner had her hands full. She went to Maura instead.

"Hi Joe!" Maura bent down to ruffle the small dog's fur.

Jane put the heavy fruit – or was it a vegetable? – on the counter. She watched her best friend interact with her furry best friend and smiled. She loved moments like this. She couldn't explain what it was about it. It was just… comfortable.

Maura looked up and saw Jane's stare. "What?"

Jane looked away. "Nothing! I just – " She reached for a knife. "Ready to carve this bad boy?"

Maura giggled at Jane and joined her at the counter. "What do we do first?"

"We take out the seeds." She plunged the knife into the top of the gourd and then turned to Maura. "Actually, you might be better at this part than me."

Maura looked at her curiously, wanting to know the reasoning behind that statement.

Jane saw her look. "It's a lot like an autopsy. You just pull out the guts of the pumpkin!"

Maura gave her a look of disbelief but took the knife and deftly cut a circle around the top of it, as per Jane's instructions. She was unsure of going right to it as Jane told her but, after the first few handfuls of orange goo, she nimbly extracted the rest, as if this was her hundredth pumpkin.

Jane watched in astonishment from across the counter as Maura expertly cut away at some stubborn strands of gunk. "You sure this is your first time?" She teased.

"What?" Maura looked up, surprised. "Ow!" She yelped, and glanced down. She stared, unbelieving. This was the first time she cut herself since med school. And even then it wasn't really her fault.

"Oh my god, oh my god. You're bleeding!" Jane became frantic and darted around the room, searching for a towel.

"Jane, it's fine!" She tried to calm her nerves but the other girl was too frenzied.

"God, you didn't chop it off did you?" She reached for a hand towel off the counter.

"It's just a nick." Maura held her hand up, attempting to convince the other woman that it wasn't that bad.

"You sure?" Jane leaned in and saw it was no worse than a paper cut. She sighed in relief. "Guess you won't be needing this then." She said, holding up the towel.

"Yes, Jane, I'm sure." She said, eyeing the towel warily. "And I'm pretty sure _that_ would do more harm than good."

Jane's head slunk down. "Sorry. I was just trying to help."

"Well… thank you." Maura smiled genuinely, even if she was _this_ close to getting a horrible infection. "What do we do now?"

"Wash it off and get a band-aid?"

"I meant about the pumpkin."

"Right…well… um, why don't you wash that off – band-aids are in the bathroom – and I'll set up in here."

Maura did as she was told and came back to an array of items strewn about the counter. "What's all this?"

Jane looked up from examining the pumpkin. "Well… in order to properly carve a pumpkin, we need the right tools."

"A potato peeler?" Maura picked up the object in question.

"It's perfect for scooping out a stubborn piece." She explained. "Just trust me on this."

"Okay…" She took another look at the counter. "I just find it hard to believe that you need more tools to carve a pumpkin than I do to perform an autopsy."

Jane laughed. "I hardly ever use all of it. Most of these are 'just in case'." She picked up a knife, a smaller version of the one they used earlier. "Come here."

Maura did, albeit hesitantly.

Jane handed her the knife.

"You want _me_ to do it?"

"You wanted me to teach you, so I'll teach you."

"But what if I mess up? You only bought one."

"You know, it's funny that you're stressing over a pumpkin when you cut into dead people every day," she mused.

"Yeah, well… I've had practice."

"Look, it's no big deal. If you mess up, we'll get another one." She offered the knife again.

Maura took it. She stood in front of the pumpkin, staring at its intimidating orange skin. She glanced back and saw that Jane was uncomfortably close.

They stood in silence for a second before Jane spoke up. "So what we do is basically carve something, like a face or a cat or something, and we'll put a candle in it so it glows."

Maura's face indicated her confusion.

"Here! I'll show you." She said, leaving the room.

Maura let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't completely sure what was going on with her. Ever since the hay ride she's been on edge around Jane. She didn't like it.

Jane appeared a few minutes later, laptop in hand. Images of Jack-O-Lanterns filled the screen.

Maura's eyes got wide. "We're supposed to turn _this_," she pointed at the pumpkin, "into _this_?" She pointed at the computer.

"That's the plan." Jane glanced down at the computer again. "Though most of these are pretty complex. We're mostly going for something like _this_." She pointed to an image of a traditional carving, with triangle eyes and nose and a simple mouth.

Maura nodded and studied the images on the screen before pressing the blade against the pumpkin. It went though easily and cleanly and soon Maura was expertly removing chunks.

It only took a few minutes for an image to be visible. Jane stood behind her, awestruck at the talent Maura possessed. She knew she was good with a knife and all but, still, it _was_ her first time.

"Skewer." Maura put her hand out and expected one to be placed there. When there wasn't she looked up to a bemused face.

"What do I look like, a nurse?" Jane laughed and handed Maura the skewer anyway.

Not ten minutes longer and she was done. They looked down at a realistic skull staring back at them from the depths of the pumpkin skin.

"Wow." That was all Jane could say.

"Is that a good wow or a bad wow?"

Jane just looked at her incredulously. "A good wow. I just wish I had a porch or something so I could display it. I can't put it out in the hallway…"

"Don't your parents have a porch?" Maura suggested.

"Great idea Maura!" Jane went in for a hug.

Maura backed away.

She tried to take a step towards the M.E., but it was like they were magnets with the same charge. "What? Do I smell?" Jane asked.

"What? Of course not!"

"Then why are you so intent on staying at least five feet away from me?"

"I'm not." Maura insisted.

"Okay, two feet." Jane corrected her over exaggeration. "But seriously. What's up?" She was starting to get worried about her friend. It was unlike her to act like this.

"I… I just want my space. That's all."

"That it? There's nothing else?" She prodded.

"Uh…" Maura's voice was high, showing strain. She was debating whether or not she was willing to pass out just this once when a knock on the door saved her from making that choice.

Jane took one last glance to the doctor before she went to the door. It was Marisa.

"Hey!" Jane greeted.

"Oh, I didn't realize – " She pointed to Maura, indicating that she didn't expect Jane to have company over.

Jane waved her off. "Nah, it's okay, we were just… what's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to come down for dinner. I made extra and I'd be nice to have some company."

Jane turned around. "Maura?"

While she was hungry, she was more grateful for the distraction from the previous topic. She nodded her head eagerly.

"Yeah! Sound's good!" Jane stepped out into the hall, waiting for Maura to join them before she closed the door.

XXXXX

"You have a lovely apartment, Marisa." Maura complimented.

"Thank you!" She smiled and directed them to the table before heading over to the kitchen. She brought out bowls of pasta for each of them before sitting down. They all dug in and expressed their favorable opinions of the food.

"So what are your plans for Halloween?" Marisa asked her guests.

"Me and Maura are goin' to my parents house." Jane answered for them.

"Oh, that's nice." She eyed the two of them, questions entering her mind. "I'm just staying in with a friend. Horror movies are _made_ for Halloween."

Jane nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I was thinking about doing that tomorrow. I'm showing Maura the whole Halloween experience because she never got to do any of this stuff before."

"Never?" Marisa was surprised. "That's a shame."

"Yeah, well, no one better to share my first Halloween with than Jane." Maura looked over at her in adoration.

This look, seemingly, answered a few questions Marisa had and made her feel less hesitant about asking some more. "So how long have you two been together? I mean, I see you over here a lot." She said, looking at Maura.

The two were confused.

"Well… we, uh… met a little while ago. At work. And just started hanging out." Jane's tone indicated that she didn't quite understand the question.

"No, I meant, um… how long have you been dating?" Marisa had no idea that her question was off the mark.

"What? You mean each other?" Jane finally understood what was going on. Maura, on the other hand, was beginning to regret coming.

"Yeah, why? Was I wrong?" She was confused. She was usually never wrong about these kinds of things.

"We're not together." Jane said, pointing in between her and Maura to further emphasize the point.

"Oh." Marisa looked dejected after hearing that. "Sorry… I just thought…"

"It's no big deal. You're not the first." Jane said, recalling what happened earlier with Chelsea.

That didn't surprise her. They acted like they were a couple. She could have sworn she saw some glimmers of love or something in Maura's eyes earlier.

After the slight awkwardness of that topic lifted, they enjoyed a pleasant conversation which mostly consisted of how things at their respective workplaces were going.

"Dinner was great, Marisa, thanks." Jane said when they were finally done eating and outside Marisa's door.

"No problem. We should do this more often." She turned to Maura. "And it was so nice to _finally_ meet you, Maura."

"Likewise."Maura shook Marisa's offered hand.

When the door was shut they walked away. In different directions.

"Where are you going?" Jane asked when she felt the absence of Maura.

"Home?" She said on the other side of the hallway.

"Your car's at work, remember?" She reminded her.

"Oh, yeah."

"You can just spend the night. It's not like you haven't fallen asleep over here before."

"No… I should probably go home. Bass hasn't eaten yet."

"So you're gonna make me drive you all that way for _him_?"

"I can call a cab." She held up her cell phone, already starting to dial.

"Maura." Jane warned. She knew that Bass was not the main issue here.

"He needs to eat." Maura insisted firmly.

"Fine." Jane conceded. "Go home to your turtle."

"Tortoise, Jane!"

Jane smiled. "I know."

"Then why do you-?"

"You're cute when you're angry." She teased.

Maura's face flushed and she turned around to keep Jane from seeing. "I'm leaving." She started to walk.

"Wait, Maura!" Jane started to run over to her friend who stopped when her name was called. "You coming over tomorrow?" She saw the light blush on the M.E.'s face but decided not to bring it up.

"Actually I thought I could shop for a costume tomorrow."

Jane's face lit up. "Cool! Can I come?"

"You hate clothes shopping." Maura pointed out, remembering the past failed attempts to shop with Jane.

"It's not clothes shopping. It's costume shopping." She said matter-of-factly.

"I kind of wanted it to be a surprise."

"Oh… okay that's fine. Meet me for lunch?"

"Sure."

"Okay, I'll call you tomorrow." Jane said. "I can take you home, you know. I was just kidding earlier. You don't have to call a cab."

"No, it's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I'll see you tomorrow." Maura was insistent. She just wanted to get out of there so she could reevaluate today in peace. Maybe a nice cup of tea and some meditation will help.

Jane went in for a hug goodbye but Maura shrugged it off and headed for the exit. Jane stood there in the hallway, surprised at how much hurt she could feel from such a simple action. That was it, she told herself, tomorrow she was getting to the bottom of this. She wasn't a detective for nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Expect the next update to come a bit late. I will do everything I can to make it come in on Sunday. Thanks for reading!

XXXXX

"Yes, Ma, I already told you she said she would!" Jane was yelling into the receiver of her cell while trying to pour milk into her cereal. She reached for a spoon and sat down, putting the phone on the counter and hitting the speaker button.

Joe Friday looked up from her spot on the couch briefly and then went back to sleep.

"Just try not to make it too overwhelming for her, okay? This is her first Halloween. I don't want to scare her from it for good."

"Don't worry, Janie," Angela's voice drifted from the phone. "We won't. And I think it's great what you're doing for her."

"Thanks." Jane smiled into her bowl, trying to get that stubborn last marshmallow clover. "You sure you don't need any help setting up?"

"Nope! I told you eight, so you better not show up a minute earlier or later."

"O…kay?" Jane was suspicious. This was very unlike her mother, who would jump at the chance to have her over to help. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean? Nothing's going on. I need to go. See you tomorrow at eight!"

Jane stared over at her phone. This weekend has been pretty weird so far, she thought, and it just got weirder. Oh well, her mother _was_ a pretty interesting character. She should have been used to that by now. She put the bowl in the sink and headed to the shower.

XXXXX

Maura stood in front of her mirror, trying to decide between two different styles of suede boots. Her mind kept drifting to the hay ride, which was also the reason behind the dark circles under her eyes. Neither the tea nor the meditation helped her focus and sort it out last night, which left her even more confused about what happened.

She sighed and grabbed the other half of her choice boot. After she put them on she went into the kitchen. "Hi Bass."

The tortoise looked up from his leaf of lettuce and acknowledged her briefly before returning to his breakfast.

"I know you probably don't want to listen to me go on and on about Jane _again_ but… there's been something different lately. I'm not too sure what it is." She bent down and patted the reptile on his shell.

He looked away from his food and at his friend. It was unlike her to confide in him about anything related to Jane, especially ever since he first expressed his dislike for the girl.

"I keep getting these… feelings… whenever she's around. They're not bad. Good actually. But the only time I've really felt this way was with Garrett, and even then it wasn't to this extreme." She took a seat next to him. "They're just mostly confusing. And you know me, I don't confuse easily."

The tortoise gazed into the depths of the M.E.'s eyes. He wished he could do something to lessen the turmoil she was going through but, as he was incapable of speech, there was nothing he could do but be there for her. He put his front foot on the hand that she had previously placed on the ground.

"Thanks Bass." Maura said, smiling down at her scaly brown friend. She sat there with him for a while before she decided that she really needed to get going.

XXXXX

Around lunch time Maura's phone rang. It was Jane.

"Hey, Jane." She chimed into the phone. Retail therapy did wonders for her mood.

"Hey. You sound… happy."

"I've been shopping."

"Ah! That explains it." Jane smiled. "You ready for lunch?"

"Yep!"

"Cool! The usually place, then?"

"Sounds good!" Maura said, looking over at said place. She already figured as much and was not wholly surprised when she spotted the other girl about two seconds later. "I see you."

"Yeah, that's not creepy at all." Jane replied, looking around.

"Straight ahead." She moved her arm from side to side above her head, increasing the likelihood that Jane would spot her.

The detective looked forward and saw Maura waving frantically in her direction. She smiled at her friend's antics before meeting her in front of the restaurant.

"Shall we?" Jane asked, holding out her arm.

Maura took the given arm and was slightly caught off guard by the feelings that came up.

They went in and took their usual seat. Their usual waiter greeted them and they chatted nicely before placing their order.

"This is nice. Being able to have a place to go to that's familiar and have a friend to share it with." Maura smiled, biting into a breadstick.

"Yeah." Jane mirrored Maura's actions, only taking a much bigger bite. She noticed that Maura didn't seem as… off… as she was yesterday. But she did seem tired. " You okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seem…tired." She looked over at her friend in concern.

"I am. I couldn't seem to… get to sleep last night."

Jane nodded her head and just chalked it up to her being excited about the whole Halloween thing. But that still didn't explain her behavior yesterday.

"So what movies are we watching later?"

"It's a surprise." Jane said, smiling slyly.

Maura's eyebrow cocked up in intrigue.

Jane still wasn't sure what route to take with the movies. On the one hand they could watch those cheesy monster flicks and on the other they could watch an actual horror movie.

Their food got there just before Jane was going to speak again. After the chicken salad was placed in front of Maura and the burger in front of Jane, they thanked the waitress and the latter girl turned to the former. "So, are you done with shopping for today?"

"I believe so, yes." Maura's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why?"

"I got another idea." She pointed her fry at the doctor. "No Halloween is complete without a haunted house." She popped the fry in her mouth and looked at the girl across from her expectantly.

"A haunted... house?" She was unsure about this idea.

"Yeah! They're great! Tommy always used to get scared so we'd have to leave early, but they were fun." Jane hoped she'd say yes.

She contemplated it for a moment and then nodded. "If you think it's a good idea then we'll go. I trust you."

At that, Jane beamed then took a bite of her half-eaten burger.

They finished lunch quickly and then headed outside. When they started going off in separate directions, Jane turned around and got Maura's attention. "Hey, why don't we meet at my place and just go from there?" She suggested.

Maura agreed and soon they met at Jane's apartment complex. With a promise to be right back, Jane left Maura by the cars and darted upstairs returning shortly, pumpkin in hand.

"Why are you –?" Maura asked, pointing at her handiwork.

"Figure we can drop this off at my parent's on our way, kay?" She unlocked the door and placed it carefully on the floor of the backseat before they got in and drove off.

XXXXX

Jane knocked on the door. It was the third try. She was getting irritated. She knew they were there: both their cars were there. Even Frankie's was there. "Ma! C'mon! I know you're in there." She banged on the door again.

The door opened but only as wide as an inch or two. Jane saw her mother's eye peer out from inside.

"_What_ are you doing?" Jane was getting annoyed at the odd behavior. Maura was amused.

"Nothing! Can't I check to make sure you're not a robber or something? With all that banging going on…" Her words drifted off as she stepped outside, trying to ninja her way out.

"Why are you acting like this?" Jane asked slowly. Everyone was being so _weird_ lately.

"Like what, Jane? I'm shocked. I'm still your poor sweet mother!" Angela was being melodramatic, as always, and Jane rolled her eyes.

"Never mind. I brought you this. She held out the pumpkin. "I thought we could leave it on the porch, since I don't have one."

"Jane!" Angela exclaimed in amazement. "This is your best work yet!"

"Oh, it's not mine." Jane glanced at Maura.

"Maura! Wow, I'm impressed. I thought Jane said you haven't done this before."

"I hadn't." She said proud that, once again, she excelled at most everything she did. If only she were better at volleyball…

"Of course we can put it on the porch! Here, let me grab a match for that candle." She snuck back inside and reappeared a moment later with a match book.

They lit the candle inside the pumpkin, set it down and stood back, admiring how it had come out.

"What are your plans for the rest of today?" She asked, trying in her own motherly way to pry without prying.

"I'm takin' Maura to that one haunted house we went to that one year," she saw a look of understanding on her mother's face, "an' then we're goin' to watch movies at my place."

"Good, good. Well, have fun!" She said, trying to shoo them away.

While Jane _did_ want to know what her deal was, she also didn't want to waste too much time. After all, they had a busy night ahead of them. She decided not to make a fuss and headed back to the car.

When she gave a quick look back at the pumpkin from the driver's seat she saw her mother peering out through the blinds, eyes squinting in suspicion. Jane had to try hard to keep from grumbling in annoyance and, at the same time, just laughing.

The drive was mostly in silence. Once in a while it would be broken by small comments on something they passed or just anything that came to mind but, mostly, they were each in their own little worlds. Jane was still curious about what the _hell_ was going on with everyone lately, mostly Maura. Especially Maura. The M.E. was focusing in on herself too only now she knew what was going on with her, she now needed to figure out what to do about it.

They parked and surveyed the scene. Left and right ghouls, goblins and ghosts were hanging from nearby houses and trees. People were walking around, some in costume, some not.

They got out and entered the building, joining the line that was forming. After five groups of people went in, it was their turn.

"Welcome to Haunted Horrors! Is this your first time here?"

"Not for me," Jane answered, "but it's hers."

"Welcome! In a short while we'll let you go in the door. All we ask is that you sign this waiver freeing us from any liability should anything happen to you in there. The price is ten dollars per person." They paid and Maura shot the other girl a worried glance as they signed the papers but the look Jane gave her alleviated her worries.

They handed the girl the papers and were allowed to proceed.

When they stepped in the doors closed behind them eerily, shutting out all light. A few seconds later a ghostly light slowly filtered in, along with some fog. Maura reached for Jane's hand, interlaced their fingers and pulled her in closer, forgetting, for the moment, the events of yesterday.

They crept along, feeling paranoid, as they should be. Jane wasn't really paying that much attention to what was around them, as she was focused in on Maura's face, or what she could see of it.

As they were approaching a turn in this maze of horror, Jane, who knew what was coming, reminded herself to not reach for the gun.

The second they turned the corner someone jumped out at them. Maura jumped on Jane, looping her hand around the other girl's back and across her chest and over her shoulder while bringing her leg up, almost wrapping it around the detective's waist.

The man in the mummy costume just chuckled before retreating to his hiding place, in anticipation of the next victims.

In the next corridor there were coffins and skeletons everywhere, most likely made to look like a graveyard. Hands would reach up from beneath the foggy floor and grab for their legs.

As they walked, Maura relaxed slightly and spoke. "These skeletons are not very anatomically precise." She pointed to one in example. "That skull is lacking a zygomatic arch."

"You know, something tells me that wasn't their main concern when they made this." Jane said, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

When they entered the next room, something popped out that Jane wasn't expecting. It was her turn to jump back in fear as a giant snake appeared out of nowhere. "Fuck!" She exclaimed, pulling out her gun reflexively. "When did they add snakes?"

"Jane!" Maura admonished. She took the gun away from her. She saw that the other girl was starting to shake and breathe heavily. She placed the gun on a nearby prop and wrapped her arms around Jane, rubbing her back soothingly.

Jane pulled back and reached around Maura to grab her gun and replace it in the holster. The look in her eyes showed that she was sorry and embarrassed for her reaction.

"Jane." Maura cooed. "It's okay, really. You didn't know."

"Yeah. Thank god there wasn't a person in that." She glanced to the wall that it retreated to; still afraid it will come out again. "Let's just keep going." She grabbed Maura's hand and pulled her along.

The rest of the haunted house was not really impressive. Maura jumped a few times more and screamed once, nearly rendering Jane deaf, but a large amount of the props didn't scare them. As they walked through some of the less horrifying parts, Jane shared some stories of her childhood involving haunted houses and Halloween.

When they exited, Jane felt obligated to apologize about almost shooting their snake. She also inquired about when they added it, learning that it was a new feature this year.

They chatted with some people who exited just ahead of them and then left. Jane was pretty sure she wanted to go full out horror with the movies, considering Maura's reactions just now. If only just to have Maura reach out and look to her for comfort.

They arrived to Jane's home rather quickly and headed up. Joe Friday greeted them at the door and they spent a few moments playing with her.

"Okay, so, you ready?" Jane asked, holding up DVD cases depicting various horror scenes.

"Uh huh." She said cheerfully before plopping down on the sofa.

Jane sat down next to Maura, not too close and not too far. She grabbed the remote off the table and pressed play. The thought twice and paused it before jumping up and turning off the lights. "Gotta set the mood." She said jokingly and starting it again.

Suspenseful music played during the beginning credits. Maura glanced at Jane for any indication of what's to come.

The first few minutes, Maura surmised, were pretty boring for a supposed horror movie. The plot line, however, was… interesting. So far we see some college kids at a camp talking about some kid who died a few years ago at the lake.

In no time they heard the predictable "what's that noise?" "I don't know, let's check it out!" that signaled the killings were about to start.

After the first few victims were dead, Maura rolled her eyes. "I don't understand how a hockey mask is supposed to be scary…"

"Really Maura? It's Jason Voorhees! Before Hoyt, he was the monster haunting my nightmares."

Maura just gave her a sympathetic look and turned back to the movie.

"Ge-e-e-e-e-t o-o-u-u-u-u-t-t-t." The hair-raising voice said. The characters on screen paid no heed to the ominous warning. In no time they were dead.

Jane looked over at Maura. She was staring intently at the screen, her brows furrowed in concentration. The detective figured she was trying to figure out the medicolegal significance behind the killings. Leave it to Maura to critically analyze a horror flick.

After all but one of the camp people were killed the movie was over.

Maura turned to Jane and answered the question she saw in her eyes. "It wasn't very believable."

Jane groaned and sunk into the couch. "It's not supposed to be. It's supposed to scare the crap outta you!"

Her eyebrow quirked upward and skepticism laced her features. "Really?" It was hard to believe.

"Yeah… why?"

"Well I mean… They couldn't make the characters a bit more convincing? It was like they were at the camp for the blatantly oblivious."

Jane did a face-palm. "That's not the point."

Maura looked down. "I'm sorry; I'm annoying you, aren't I?"

Jane's features softened and she leaned over, placing a hand on Maura's knee. "Of course not. I just want you to have a good time and I remember the best Halloweens were the ones when I was really scared, that's all."

The M.E. smiled softly. "I am having a good time. I'm with you. It's kind of inevitable."

Jane locked eyes with her and smiled shyly. Their eyes spoke volumes of words that could be expressed no other way. If anyone was watching they'd figure that the two were madly in love and were sharing an intimate moment.

"Same here." Jane's fingers unconsciously rubbed Maura's bare skin, sending chills up her spine and pleasant warmth throughout her body.

Maura leaned in thinking that this was the moment she's been waiting for all day.

Jane followed suit.

Soon Maura's eyes were closed and she was prepared to feel Jane's lips against her own, but, instead, Jane pulled her into an awkward hug. Well… awkward for Maura because of the intense disappointment and embarrassment due to her feelings for the other girl.

They pulled away and Jane got up. "You hungry?" She headed to the kitchen, pulled a beer out of the fridge and took a few sips.

"Yeah." She stood up and smoothed out a few wrinkles that formed during the movie.

"What are you in the mood for?"

Maura had to bite her tongue to keep from saying: "you." She shrugged her shoulders instead.

Jane looked through her pantry and smiled as she pulled out a box. "I have your favorite!"

The doctor's eyes lit up when they landed on a familiar leprechaun. She ran over and snatched the box from the detective before grabbing a bowl from a nearby cabinet.

As Maura was collecting all the needed cereal eating supplies, Jane spoke up. "Wow, you know I never realized until now just how much time you've spent here. I mean, you know where everything is!"

Maura stopped the milk mid-pour and looked up. "Is that… a bad thing?"

"What? No! I love having you here!" Jane said, looking at Maura curiously. "I was just… y'know, making an observation."

"Oh! Right…" Maura silently admonished herself before getting back to her cereal.

While she was eating, Jane pondered a few things. She never did figure out what was going on with her yesterday. She decided to test a theory of hers.

She didn't sneak; she just slowly walked over to Maura's side and stood there until the M.E. looked over with a quizzical look. She stepped to the side. Jane copied her actions and Maura moved again.

"Okay, what is going on with you?" She yelled.

"I'm trying to eat!" Maura yelled back.

Jane groaned. "You know what I mean! And don't tell me you 'need your space'. I know it's more than that!"

Maura took another step back and sighed. "I need my space from you."

Jane's face fell. She backed away from Maura and grabbed her beer off the counter. "Okay," she said flatly, heading to the couch.

"Jane!" The spoon clanged in the bowl when it was dropped. She went over to her friend. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"How could you possibly mean it in a way that doesn't suck?"

"Jane… I – "

"No! Just – " Jane held her hand up to keep Maura from talking. It took a moment for her to gather her thoughts before she spoke again. "Do you still wanna do this Halloween thing?" Her voice was flat but Maura could tell how close she was from crying.

She was torn. While she did want to return to the good time they were having earlier she knew that watching another movie right now was not a good idea. Jane was hurting because of something she said and she needed to fix that. Otherwise the rest of the weekend won't be fun for either of them.

The M.E. walked over to the couch and sat down next to Jane, who promptly got up. Maura's hand shot out and pulled her back down.

"I'm sorry." She put her hands, still grasping Jane's, in her lap. She traced the scar lightly and looked into the other girl's eyes. "It's just that, lately, I've been… confused."

Jane snorted. "You confused? Not likely."

"About emotions, yes, very likely. Especially when they're my own."

"So what exact… emotions… have you been having about me?" Jane was afraid to hear the answer. She couldn't think of anyway this would turn out positively.

Maura closed her eyes and sighed, visibly distressed. This wasn't how she wanted it to happen. "They're not bad, I promise. It's just…" She trailed off, not sure how to continue.

"Did I do something?"

"No! Nothing! Aside from being your usual self."

"Was that the problem?"

"No! Being yourself is never a problem! I hate it when you try to be anything but." She was adamant about this. The M.E. looked down at their hands. She was quiet for a while, not wanting to say it.

Jane was looking at her face. It was distraught with conflicting emotions. When a tear rolled down Maura's cheek Jane knew that was enough and sighed. "I can tell that, whatever this is, you're not ready yet. It's okay; you don't have to say anything."

Maura looked up, eyes watering. "Really?"

"Yeah." She sent a comforting smile at the other girl. "Really. So what do you say? Wanna watch another movie?"

Maura felt a bit of relief at this and nodded her head. They got the movie started and settled in. At first they were on opposite sides of the couch but near the end, after shuffling and shifting around, they were close again. Maura fell asleep before the credits and layed her head on the detective's shoulder. Jane just smiled and readjusted the two of them. She laid them both down on the couch so that Maura was mostly on top of her. She held her close, arms around her waist. She buried her face in the M.E.'s hair and inhaled, reveling in the scent. She nuzzled her neck and closed her eyes, letting sleep take her.


	3. Chapter 3

Maura woke up to a wet sensation on her hand. She blinked one eye open and saw the reason why: Joe Friday was sitting there licking it. She moved it, trying to shoo her away. It worked. She smiled and tried to get back to sleep. Her eyes snapped open when she realized where she was. She turned her head slowly and saw hair on her shoulder. It was not her color. She felt the girl behind her shift and that's when she noticed the arms around her waist and the soft body pressed against her back. Her legs were intertwined with another pair. She knew who it was and there was no way she was getting back to sleep, not with her heart beating at such a high rate and her stomach going crazy with swarms of some new mutant butterfly species that were too strong to be normal. She wanted to move, to do anything to lessen the turmoil going on inside.

After a few minutes, Jane finally woke up. She moved her hands, essentially caressing the other girl's stomach, when she shifted. A soft moan emanated from her throat as she pulled the other girl in closer, snuggling in as if Maura was a human teddy bear.

The M.E. was still. Her insides were going crazy. It took all she had not to turn around and crash her lips against Jane's after that moan. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes, trying to focus on something… anything that could help her to not go insane laying here with her heart's strongest desire.

"Maura?" She heard a soft sleepy voice behind her. She unwrapped her arms from the other girl and stretched. "Sleep okay?"

"Mmm-hmm." She squeaked, trying her best to not focus on the breasts that were currently pressed firmly against her back.

"That's good." She let out a sigh as some of the kinks were worked out. "You gonna lay here all day or can I get up?"

Maura felt foolish, as she didn't realize before that that was an option. She got up slowly, still trying to will her body away from Jane's.

Jane watched Maura stand up and bring her arms up in a stretch. The fabric of her shirt lifted, baring a sliver of skin. Jane was surprised but not shocked that all she wanted to do right now was run her fingers along Maura's exposed flesh. Maybe push her shirt up a little while she's at it and kiss her way up to… She shook her head, trying to snap out of it.

Maura looked at her curiously but she knew that, with her behavior as of late, she really had no right to inquire into Jane's. She asked a different question instead. "Do you have anything planned for us before eight?"

Jane tried her best to look up at Maura but couldn't without giving away what she was just thinking about. She shook her head 'no' before trying to think of what they could do. "Did you need to do anything?"

"Other than a having little time to get ready for tonight, no."

The detective stood up. "Alright! Then I need a shower." She pointed to her room. "Do you want to take one first?" Or should we take one together? Jane fought off a blush as the question lingered in her mind.

Maura waved her off. "I'll just go home. I don't have a change of clothes anyway."

Jane nodded before her face lit up, indicating that she got an idea. "Okay, yeah, why don't you go home and stay there. I'll be over soon. I have an idea."

Maura knew she was too far into this to be suspicious. She knew that, whatever Jane had in mind, she was going to go along with it. She's been doing that since the day they met.

With a goodbye and Jane's promise to 'be right there,' Maura left and Jane jumped in the shower.

While showering Jane thought about the morning. Her mind kept stopping at one point in particular. Waking up with the M.E. next to her was too good for words. She just couldn't describe how it made her feel, just that it was similar to the other times she woke up next to her but now she had an idea of what was contributing to that feeling. And, frankly, it scared her.

Was she in love with her best friend? It made sense. Every time she was around her she couldn't help her heart beating faster and a smile appearing on her face. She was a better person when the doctor was around, she couldn't help it.

She groaned in frustration and shut off the water. She ran her towel over her skin roughly, trying to wipe away the thoughts of this morning. It was hopeless anyway. Maura was too good for her. She didn't have a chance.

XXXXX

"What is all this?" Maura asked as Jane unloaded the contents of her car onto the front lawn.

"Decorations." She said simply, taking out the last bag and closing the trunk.

"Decorations? For what?" Maura had her hands on her hips and was surveying the scene.

Jane pointed to the house. It was the only one on the block not in the holiday spirit.

Maura sighed and then walked over to the other girl to help empty the bags. There were fake spider webs complete with plastic spiders, a few ghosts, a couple tombstones and plastic pumpkins, a few bags of candy and a decorative bowl. The last few items to be taken out were some chalk and fake blood. To these Maura gave Jane a questioning look.

"You'll see," she said in a way that bordered on flirtation.

Maura smiled. Somehow she knew she was going to say that.

They started with the hanging decorations first, getting them up in a few minutes. They put the tombstones in the ground, having a bit of trouble at first getting them to stay upright, and then scattered the fake pumpkins. When they put the last one in its place Maura spoke up. "Why didn't we just bring my pumpkin here?"

Jane thought for a moment. "Well first," she started, counting off on her fingers, "I didn't think of that. And second if you leave a real one out unattended for too long the neighborhood kids'll want to smash it up," she finished, seemingly talking from experience.

They tore open the bags of webs and coated any object they could get it to stick on. When they got all they could reach, and after having a 'cobweb fight' started when Jane put a piece in Maura's hair, they still had some left. The roof, Jane surmised, seemed too clean. Despite Maura's protests, the detective scaled up and strung the faux webs along the roof. She even put a string of it hanging down near the front door with a spider attached to the end. When she did this, however, she nearly lost her balance, causing Maura to shout her name in fear and run forward, arms out. Jane chuckled, looking down at her wannabe savior and then carefully made her way back down.

Maura pushed Jane playfully, slightly upset at the fact that Jane could have gotten hurt, but mostly relieved that she didn't.

"So what's left?" Maura asked. "Nothing more on the roof, I hope."

"No…" She looked around at the remaining bags. She pulled out the chalk and fake blood and gestured Maura over to the driveway. "Lay down." She pointed to the ground.

She wanted her to lay down here? And ruin her designer clothes? Maura gave her an incredulous look.

Jane thought better of it, especially after the look she got, and handed Maura the chalk. She got into position on the ground. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Ready for what exactly?" Didn't Jane know by now that Maura had _no_ idea what they were doing?

"Draw an outline. Y'know like there was a dead body here."

"But that's not entirely accurate. You know as well as I do that we don't do that anymore because the chalk might contaminate the crime scene."

Jane leaned up. "I know… but regular people, y'know, the one's who trick or treat? They don't know that."

"So we're just going to advertise a false truth?"

"I dunno, I thought I'd be cool."

Maura saw the disappointed look on her friend's face. "Sorry. You're right. I'm being too… _me _again." She was now squatting next to Jane.

The detective looked up at her and frowned. "That's never a bad thing," she said, reaching up and tucking a loose strand of hair behind the M.E.'s ear.

Maura smiled and blushed before she tried to change the subject. "So just make an outline of you then?"

Jane nodded and put her body back in its previous position.

Maura started from the bottom, making a straight line along the outside of her left leg and curving slightly at the hips. She tried to get past the breast area without lingering, lest she give herself away before tracing along her neck and around her head. She was leaned over the other girl now and their eyes locked. She felt an intense pull downward, one she could not fight. Jane was inching her way up. Maura put her free hand on the other side of Jane's head and started to lean further down. Their eyes closed simultaneously, both hearts pounding erratically. They were close enough to feel the breath of the other on their lips.

A truck down the street honked its horn.

They jumped back. Or, rather, Maura jumped up and Jane slammed her head back, hitting the ground hard. She groaned in pain.

"Jane! Are you okay? Do you have a concussion? Quick, what day is it? Oh, this is all my fault…" She was leaned over, checking Jane's head for any sign of a laceration.

"I'm fine!" She said rather harshly, pushing the other girl away. She still had a hand pressed to her head.

Maura landed sitting down, her arms behind her to brace the impact. She was stunned, to say the least.

Jane knew immediately that she messed up. While Maura was in no way injured, the fact that Jane pushed her so forcefully crossed a line, especially since the M.E. was just trying to help. She pushed herself up so she was sitting right in front of her. "Maura, I'm _so _sorry." She reached out slowly, waiting to see if Maura was going to accept any more physical contact.

She did.

Jane gently cupped Maura's cheek, who pressed against it, essentially nuzzling the hand. Maura pulled back but kept Jane's hand there, holding it between her own before placing a gentle kiss on the blemish marring the middle of her palm. They smiled at each other and all was forgiven.

In no time they got the outline finished and blood splattered across it. When they were done they stood there next to each other. There was a charge still lingering in the air from their almost kiss.

"We have a few hours until eight, " Jane pointed out. "Any ideas?"

Maura wanted so badly to talk about what just happened but she didn't want to be the one to bring it up. There was still a chance Jane didn't feel the same way. She shrugged. "I need a bit of time to get ready."

"Yeah, me too. I shoulda brought my costume over here. We could've gotten ready together."

Maura smiled before shaking her head. "Why don't we make it a surprise? We'll meet at the party and won't know each other's costume until we see them."

Jane suspected slightly that this was her way of saying she wanted to spend some time away from her for a little while, which made sense since they've spent all weekend together, but she knew deep down that it was not. She nodded her head in agreement. "One more thing before I go though."

Maura was ready. She was either going to get a speech about how she didn't have those feelings but still wanted to be friends or she was about to receive the most mind-blowing kiss of her life.

It was neither.

"Before you leave, you need to fill this bowl with this candy." She held up each as she mentioned them. "You should probably put up a sign telling people to only take one or two pieces each but that usually never works too well."

It took a second to switch gears before she nodded, slightly disappointed that this thing still hung between them.

Jane bid her adieu, going in for a hug but thought twice about it and patted her shoulder instead.

Maura went inside and collapsed on her couch. Bass looked up from a fallen book and slowly made his way over there. He was worried, he'd admit, and wanted Maura to be happy. Even if it meant her being with Jane.

Maura bent down and patted the hard shell. "It's okay Bass. I'll be okay. You don't have to worry about me."

He gave her a quick once over before conceding and heading back to his book.

She sat there for a while contemplating quietly. She knew one thing for sure. She and Jane _needed _to talk about this. It's not every day that best friends like them almost kiss each other.

She almost came up with a plan of action before she noticed the time. "Oh! I better start getting ready!" She went in her room, opened the costume store bag and pulled out the still packaged costume. She did a double take when she read the words printed there and dropped it.

XXXXX

Jane's phone rang. She had just started putting her shirt on and the ringing made her confuse an arm hole for the head hole, causing her to get stuck, one arm and her head still trapped within the shirt. She twisted, grunting in annoyance as she made her way to the still ringing phone. She used her free hand to bring it under the shirt and up towards her head.

"Rizzoli."

"Jane, I'm sorry, I won't be able to make it tonight."

"What? Why?" She flung the shirt off by now, figuring she'd try again later.

"It seems there's been a bit of a… mix-up… with my costume."

"What kind of mix-up?"

"I must have grabbed the wrong one, I don't know. I tried one on and grabbed the packaged one below it. I didn't look, I just figured…" Maura's voice was cracking, showing that she was close to crying, if she wasn't already.

"Well… I mean… if you have a costume that's all that matters. It can't be that bad."

"I don't know… it might be too… inappropriate."

Jane almost dropped the phone. "Inappropriate?" Thoughts filled her mind of what that might entail. A cold shower before she left might be a good idea.

"It's… never mind. Have fun tonight." Maura said and then hung up.

"No! Maura – " Jane growled at the phone as she redialed.

"Jane, I told you – "

"It's okay! Whatever you're wearing, it's okay, honestly. Halloween is all about dressing up like you normally wouldn't."

"Oh!" Maura felt a little better about it now. "Is that what you're doing?"

"No…" She looked down at her pants and over at her shirt. "Not really."

"But – "

"Not everyone does!" Jane pointed out. "But a lot of people do." Her voice became soft and compassionate now. "I get it if you don't want to come but I _really _want you to. It'll kinda suck without you there."

Maura beamed. "Thanks… okay, I'll be there. I might be a little late, though."

"Okay. See you then!" Jane smiled and then hung up before glaring at the shirt. She picked it up and tried again, this time putting it on in success.

XXXXX

"Where's Maura?" Angela asked, greeting Jane at the door. She was dressed in a simple black dress with a pointy hat: a witch. How original, Jane thought.

"She'll be late. Costume Issues."

"Oh." She said and stepped to the side, letting Jane in.

"Hey Sis!" Frankie greeted. "Nice costume!" He said sarcastically. It was simple. Some baseball pants and a jersey along with a baseball cap. The team? The Boston Red Sox, what else?

"You too," she said, looking at his. It was almost identical to hers, only he had the red jersey while she had the white.

Frank, dressed in his plumber's uniform as his 'costume', greeted his daughter with a hug and also commented on her costume with a mention of how much of a pity it was that they didn't make it to the World Series this year.

Jane looked around for a sign of what her mother was trying to hide yesterday. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, just some decorations and food.

They chatted for a while about things like work and what they've been up to lately. Every so often a knock or a ring of the doorbell would force someone to stop chatting for the moment and give a kid or group of kids some candy. About fifteen minutes after eight there was another knock on the door. Frankie went to answer it.

"Wow! Maura! You totally shoulda joined the force if you look this good in uniform!" He exclaimed, letting her in.

Jane turned around and froze. Her heart stopped and blood rushed to her face, among other areas… Maura was there and she suddenly understood what she meant by inappropriate. She breathed in sharply when she took in the outfit. Maura was dressed as a cop. But not as if she just borrowed a spare uniform from the precinct. She was a sexy cop. Her boots were black, zippered up to midcalf. Her skirt was very short, barely qualifying as a skirt at all. Her shirt was high enough to reveal a midriff but, at the same time, low enough to reveal some cleavage. The outfit, made to emphasize certain parts of her body did a pretty good job at that as her breasts were squished together and up, drawing even more attention to them. Finishing off the outfit were a few accessories: a hat, some handcuffs hanging off a belt, and a badge pinned to the top left corner of the shirt.

Maura locked eyes with Jane and smiled at the obvious effect she had on her. She wasn't really fond of spur of the moment plans, and this was most definitely not the one she thought of earlier, but she felt she could use this costume mishap to her advantage. It seemed to be working already, she noticed, as she strutted in, as if she was on a catwalk, towards her intended target.

"Hey Jane," she greeted. Her voice was lower than usual, with a sort of husky quality.

Whatever its intended effects were, they worked, as Jane was speechless.

"Cute costume." She said regularly, toning it down a bit as she was slightly embarrassed that the other Rizzoli's were watching them.

"Thanks, you too." Jane managed to say. She was fighting hardto control herself right now. "Excuse me."

She bolted out of the room and into the bathroom. She looked in the mirror. Her face was flushed, there was no way of hiding it, Maura has definitely affected her. She splashed some cold water on her face and managed to fade the red into a light pink. "What am I gonna do?" She asked herself. There wasn't much she could do. Either she tries her best to push away the thoughts coming up every time she looks at Maura or she goes along with them. She didn't know what would be more painful. Not kissing Maura tonight or kissing her and being rejected. The detective sighed in defeat before she entered into the internal battlefield.

Frankie and Maura were talking. Jane couldn't hear about what but they seemed happy. Her parents were also chatting. Her mother kept looking over at her, though, and those suspicions returned.

"Janie!" Angela finally walked over. "Are you enjoying the party so far? I worked hard on it."

Jane just nodded weakly. She was trying not to look over at Maura and it took all of her concentration to do so.

"She looks great." Angela said, smiling in spite of herself at the scene playing out in front of her.

"Huh?" Jane was obviously distracted. "Yeah… she does."

"Is she enjoying Halloween?"

"Yeah… I think so. It's too bad she couldn't…" She trailed off. "Excuse me." She went into another room and came back, pillowcase in hand. She walked over to Maura and grabbed her hand, yanking her out of her conversation with Frankie. "Be back in a bit, Ma!" She said, dragging Maura behind her.

"Where are you going?" Angela had a bit of a disappointed tone in her voice. She hated it when the kids left so soon.

"I'm gonna take Maura Trick-or-Treating."

Looks of shock showed in the faces of everyone present. Maura tried to escape the detective's grasp.

"Not looking like this!" She protested. It was one thing to show up to a party in a costume like this but a whole other thing to go around outside.

"You look fine! Trust me, there are people out there dressed in much less right now." She wasn't sure if that was true considering just how little Maura had on right now.

"Really?"

"Maybe…" She handed Maura the pillowcase and led her out the door.

When they exited the house and made their way to the first door they got more than a few curious looks.

"Knock on the door."

"Jane, really. I don't need to do this." Maura pleaded, trying to get out of this.

"C'mon Maura, it'll be fine." She said soothingly. And all these kids around lessens the chances of me ripping your clothes off, she finished in her head. "Knock and say 'Trick-or-Treat' when they answer."

Maura did as she was told.

The door opened to reveal an older lady who looked like she was about to have a heart attack when she saw who was at her door.

"Trick-or-Treat!" Maura chimed cheerfully, holding out her pillowcase. She was still unsure about this whole thing but… she trusted Jane, even when it didn't seem like a good idea.

"Aren't you a little too old to be trick-or-treating, dear?" She asked, putting a few candy bars in the sack anyway.

"Uh…"

"This is actually her first time." Jane interjected. "I'm trying to take her through everything that Halloween entails."

"Well hello, Jane! I didn't see you there." She greeted the detective and slipped another candy bar in the M.E.'s bag. "How's your mother?"

"She's fine, thanks." She said pleasantly to her old neighbor.

"Well, good luck tonight girls. I hope you have a good first Halloween, dear." She said, looking at Maura.

"Thank you!"

The two walked away. Maura was looking in the pillow case.

"So that's all you do? You knock on a door, say a line and get candy?"

"Yep!"

"Wow… that seems too easy."

"Don't over think it, Maura." She bumped shoulders with her. "Just go with it."

They went to several more doors. Most of the people were nice about the whole thing, especially when Jane explained why they were there. Only a few people refused to give Maura candy. One in particular stood out, calling Maura a tramp and some other not-so-nice names before slamming the door in their faces. They made it about halfway around the block before Jane decided to call it quits, noticing that Maura was shivering.

"That was… exhilarating!" Maura decided gleefully. "You never know what you're going to get at each door! It was amazing! I'm glad you dragged me out there." They entered the Rizzoli household again and Jane put Maura's candy on a table, leaving it until later.

"I'm glad you had fun." Jane smiled at her best friend. She would never grow tired of moments like these. Even if these moments threatened to push her to insanity. She was still finding it hard to keep her hands off the girl in front of her.

They joined the others. Angela waved Maura over. Frankie walked over to Jane.

"I'm telling you, Sis," Frankie said sipping on his drink. "If you don't make a move, I will."

Jane glanced at Maura, who was chatting happily with Angela, before turning to her brother. "What are you talking about?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about." He pointed to Maura. "You have the hots for her. I get it. But a little advice? She won't stay single for long."

Jane's gaze lingered on Maura as she took in the words of wisdom from her brother. She knew that what he was saying was true. In fact, she was rather surprised that Maura was _still _single.

"I know." She conceded. "I'll admit it. I'm in love with her." She looked at Frankie, eyes full of fear.

"Jane? What's wrong?" He asked. He's never seen her look this way before.

"I've never told anyone that before. Hell, I just came to terms with it myself earlier today." She was a bundle of nerves.

Frankie's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Really? Wow that's… that's a surprise."

Jane's eyebrow cocked up.

"I just meant that it always seemed like you were completely in love but…" He almost said that she was oblivious to Maura's feelings but he wanted her to find out from Maura, not him. "Never mind… I need to talk to Ma for a sec." He walked away and pulled his mother into the kitchen.

"What is it Frankie?"

"I talked to Jane."

"Yeah? And?"

"She's in love with Maura."

"We already know that!"

"No! She actually _told_ me she's in love with Maura. Turns out she just realized this today."

Angela was surprised at this news. "Well… let's just stick to the plan."

"What would that be again?" He asked, looking around to make sure that they were still out of earshot. They've been trying to plot a way to get the two of them to confess their feelings for a few weeks now and figured that tonight was the night to do it.

"Just follow my lead, okay?" Angela said. They went back in the living room and she made a hand gesture to Frank, who then nodded and left the room.

Frankie and Angela chatted nonchalantly until the lights in the room went out.

"What just happened?" Jane asked, looking around for signs of danger.

"I don't know." Angela answered. "But Janie could you be a dear and get the flashlights? They're in the hall closet. Maura, why don't you go help?"

"Uh… sure." Jane answered, surmising that it was probably just a power outage since she heard no suspicious noises. She took a hold of Maura's wrist so they wouldn't lose each other in the darkness and tried to ignore the feelings that came up.

Frankie felt a tap on the back of his neck, signaling his turn to shine. With the stealthness of a jungle cat he followed the two closely.

They opened the closet and looked inside, trying to feel for the flashlights. Why were they even in here?

Frankie pushed them in and slammed the door shut. He had to hold it closed with his whole body weight behind it, as Jane was pushing rather hard against it. When her pushes died down he placed a chair under the door knob, essentially locking it.

Inside, the two girls were just standing there, mostly in confusion.

In a few minutes the lights came on, including the one inside the closet.

"I still can't believe we went with plan C." Frankie said. "I told you that it won't work."

"Maybe on a regular day," Angela argued, "but not when Maura's dressed like that."

Frankie thought that over and then nodded, figuring she was probably right. Now all they had to do was wait.

XXXXX

Jane sat down, her back against a side of the closet. Maura mirrored her.

"Well… while we're stuck in here I might as well say something I've been meaning to say all day." Jane breathed in deeply, steeling herself for this conversation. "About that… thing… that happened earlier."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? What do you have to be sorry for?"

"I took advantage of you just laying there…"

"No, _that_ was not the problem…" Jane said, glad the other girl did that and vowing to hunt that truck down someday. "It's just… I think maybe we should…" Her sentence trailed off when she looked at Maura. She completely forgot what she was talking about.

"Should what?" Maura inquired. Why was Jane looking at her like that?

Jane shook her head and looked down at the hands in her lap, focusing in on the scar. "Um…" She tried to remember what she just said. "We should talk about it."

"Jane…"

The voice was begging her to look up. She fought it but, eventually, the voice won out.

"Earlier… that was what I was talking about when I said I needed my space from you. I didn't want something like _that_ to happen. I was afraid you'd-"

Jane couldn't stand it anymore. She leaned forward, essentially launching herself at the doctor. She put her hands on either side of the M.E.'s head and leaned in, crashing their lips together.

Maura was caught off guard but her hands went straight down to Jane's waist, pulling her in closer by her belt loops.

Jane pulled back and tore off both of their hats before going at it again, this time cupping Maura's cheeks before leaning down and attacking her lips again.

They kissed passionately. All the unresolved sexual tension that built up over the last few days, or really, since they met, was finally getting released.

Jane's hands traveled down to caress her shoulders before making their way around to her back to pull her in, trying to press their bodies as close together as possible. Her knee lifted up from its spot on the ground and accidentally pressed into Maura, causing the other girl to moan into Jane's mouth.

Maura had to pull back. She was breathing heavily and her whole body was on fire. She looked into dark, chocolaty eyes and smiled, trying to control the urge to just kiss her again. "Jane…" She started.

Jane frowned and pulled away. Maura's hold on her, however, kept her there.

"No… I just need to say this." She said, still gazing into Jane's eyes. "I love you, Jane Rizzoli."

Jane smiled down at Maura and started to lean in again. "I love you too." She whispered onto the M.E.'s lips before taking them in hers again.

XXXXX

"How long were we gonna let them stay in there again?" Frankie asked, looking at the door.

Angela started to speak but then paused. "Um… I didn't really think that far yet."

There was an awkward silence as they all stared at the door, not knowing what to do next.

"Well," Frank decided after a moment of thinking, "we can't let them stay in there too long." He walked over, removed the chair and opened the door.

Jane and Maura broke away quickly. Maura was almost the one with a concussion this time with the force she used to pull back.

Jane knew what just happened. They were tricked to get in here and, while she didn't know the underlying motives, she was glad it happened. Not so glad at being interrupted, however, as she grabbed Maura's hand and pulled them out, glaring at the three standing there.

"We're leaving," was all she said before they got into her car, deciding to leave Maura's there for the night, and sped off. It was time to make Maura's first Halloween _truly _unforgettable.


End file.
